The U.S. flag has 13 stripes, representing the thirteen original colonies associated with the founding story commemorated by America250.
The stripes alternate red and white, beginning and ending with red. The flag’s blue canton contains stars representing the states in the Union. Unlike the stripes, the number of stars has changed as new states entered the country.
The modern flag’s basic design developed from earlier versions used during the American Revolution. The Flag Resolution of 1777 specified thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue field. It did not prescribe the exact arrangement of the stars, which changed over time.
A common mistake is to say that the stripes represent the current states. They do not: the stripes remain fixed at thirteen, while the star count reached fifty after Hawaii joined the Union in 1959. The flag therefore combines a permanent reference to the founding colonies with an adaptable symbol of national growth.